It has been wisely stated that necessity is the mother of invention. When people become desperate for answers, ingenuity surges, and this creativity drives people to find solutions. Plato said in his Republic, “Our need will be the real creator.” This principle has proven true again and again. For instance, Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the first effective snowmobile after snow prevented him from taking his sick two-year-old son, who later died, to a hospital.
This principle also applies to the Christian life—desperation fuels deep and passionate prayer. When the going gets tough and you have nowhere to turn other than the Lord, your prayer life will reach another level. I’ve experienced this. My deepest, most profound times of prayer occur when I am really struggling, and it’s during these times of wrestling with God in prayer that I see Him show up in big ways. My dual awareness of my own shortcomings along with my inability to control life events drives my prayer life into hyperdrive. The same is true for you.
This insight illumines what Paul means in 2 Cor 12:10, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Just as innovation breaks through during times of necessity, so also we become “strong” in prayer when we pray in times of desperation. Christ fills us with His power and grace at exactly the times when we need it most. In view of this truth, let us say with Charles Spurgeon, “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the Rock of Ages.”
Pastor Chance
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